URGENT ACTION: Human rights defender Zara Alvarez threatened

Name of HRD at risk: Zara Reboton AlvarezCountry: PhilippinesDate and time of security incident: 4th of March 2016 at 08:45 amSecurity incident: Received threats via SMS “JUST WAIT YOU ARE GOING BACK TO JAIL AGAIN WE KNOW YOUR WHEREABOUTS”

HRD security incident summary:

Human Rights Defender and mother Zara Alvarez faces once again severe harassments and threats! After serving more than one year in prison for trumped up, robbery, and murder charges, she received a text message this morning from an unsolicited number, saying:

“JUST WAIT YOU ARE GOING BACK TO JAIL AGAIN WE KNOW YOUR WHEREABOUTS”.

Currently Zara Alvarez is out on bail as her case is pending. Due to her active involvement in Human Rights, Campaigning and Political Prisoners struggles, she has been facing a mix of security incidents ranging from being followed and surveyed to being harassed by electronic means such as threatening text messages. This particular threat aims to target her ongoing criminal case, which will be heard later this month. This puts in doubt that Zara Alvarez will receive a fair and independent trial. We are currently requesting that urgent action be taken by the international community by highlighting and exposing the violations and therefore putting pressure on the Philippines authorities to take positive protective measures and properly investigate the current incident.

For more information on Zara’s case, please check out the following blog post:

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International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines.
The ICHRP is a global network of organizations based outside of the Philippines, committed to campaigning for human rights and Filipino people's rights.